Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a refrigerator, and more particularly, to a refrigerator which efficiently supplies cold air.
In general, a refrigerator supplies cold air generated by an evaporator to a storage compartment to maintain and store the freshness of various foods for a long time. The storage compartment of the refrigerator is divided into a refrigerating compartment that is kept at approximately 3° C. to refrigerate and store the food and a freezer compartment that is kept at approximately −20° C. to freeze and store the food.
In the freezer compartment, foods to be kept at a temperature lower than a freezer temperature, for example, meat, fish, ice cream, etc., are stored, and in the refrigerating compartment, foods to be kept at the freezer temperature or higher, for example, vegetables, fruits, drinks, etc., are stored.
The refrigerating compartment repeats a cooling cycle in which a refrigerant is compressed, condensed, expanded, and evaporated using a compressor, a condenser, an expander, and an evaporator. In this instance, both the refrigerating compartment and the freezer compartment may be cooled by one evaporator provided on the freezer compartment side, or they may be independently cooled by evaporators respectively provided in the freezer compartment and the refrigerating compartment.
The evaporator cools ambient air in such a manner that a refrigerant in a liquid state takes evaporation heat away from the ambient air while it is evaporated. As the evaporator, a direct cooling type evaporator in which heat exchange directly proceeds inside the storage compartment or an indirect cooling type evaporator in which heat exchange proceeds in a separate space and the generated cold air is provided to the storage compartment may be provided.